Mission

HISTORY

Hands On Sierra Leone was founded in 2016 by Sheku Mansaray and a small team of professionals in the United States and Sierra Leone. Sheku was 12 years old when rebel soldiers attacked his village, cut off both his arms with machetes and killed his parents. Sheku was traumatized and thought about dying. But he had three younger siblings who needed him. For several years they lived together in an "amputee camp" set up by an NGO.

At age 16 Sheku was brought to the U.S. by the Ostberg Foundation. He was fitted with prosthetic limbs and provided with psychosocial support, medical care, and education. He remained connected to his siblings, who were raised by a family friend. In 2014 he earned a Master's degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Health Care Administration at Wagner College in Staten Island. After many years of hard work, Sheku achieved financial security with a job as a technology specialist at a Manhattan law firm.

It is Sheku's commitment to help amputee war victims and their families still living in dire poverty in Sierra Leone's amputee camps, and to advocate for the rights for the disabled in his country. In 2016 he formed Hands On Sierra Leone*: a nonprofit dedicated to promoting their physical, social and economic well-being by providing support for education, health care, and community building.

FIRST STEPS

In 2017, following our first fundraising endeavor, Sheku and his in-country team of teachers and social workers arranged for 53 children from four impoverished amputee camps to attend school for one year. This was done at the request of amputee families who were unable to afford the cost of school for their children. We paid the school fees and provided uniforms, shoes, backpacks, books and writing materials.

Our immediate priority is to ensure that these 53 children have the means and social support to complete a high school education. This would be a significant step toward a better life for these children, their families and communities. Meanwhile, we recently started construction on a clinic and guesthouse on land Sheku purchased to bring needed medical care providers and prosthetics experts to the camps.

NEXT STEPS

We remain engaged with the 53 children and their parents to support their success in school. We are currently raising funds to provide a second year of school and after-school mentoring for the children. We are also trying to collect money for modest cash stipends for the children’s parents--acknowledging that they are the best experts on what their families need to adapt to this new opportunity. We are training amputees who were teachers and social workers before their injuries, to monitor the children's progress and report outcome data. We have identified a local social worker to coordinate our in-country team, and are raising funds for her fair compensation.

The completion of the clinic and guesthouse also depend on future fund raising. Our goal for 2020 is to purchase a van to serve as a medical vehicle to bring needed care to residents of the four amputee camps. As we develop a sustainable organizational structure, we are creating partnerships with organizations in country, as well as in the U.S.